The present application claims priority to Application No. 102 11 155.3, filed in the Federal Republic of Germany on Mar. 14, 2002, which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating an annular scale, as well as to a scale manufactured in accordance with this method.
2. Background Information
To manufacture an annular scale, it is described in German Published Utility Model No. 87 17 505 and German Published Patent Application No. 43 32 854 to bend a measuring strip having scale-division marks into a closed ring and to weld together its two ends. An annular scale fabricated in this manner is joined by press-on action to a cylindrical support part.
For precise positional measurements, the scale-division marks are required to have a constant setpoint length over the entire circumference of the scale. This cannot be achieved or can only be achieved with substantial outlay in accordance with conventional methods.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a method which may make it possible to produce an annular measuring strip, which may facilitate precise positional measurements.
The above and other beneficial objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a method and an annular scale as described herein.
According to an example embodiment of a method of the present invention, the method for fabricating an annular scale having a scale-division track including a series of scale-division marks of a predefined setpoint length for purposes of position measuring includes joining two ends of a measuring strip bearing the scale-division marks, welding together the two ends of the measuring strip, and lengthening at least one of the scale-division marks in a welded joint region to the predefined setpoint length.
According to an example embodiment of an annular scale of the present invention, the annular scale includes a scale-division track including a series of scale-division marks of a predefined setpoint length arranged for position measurement, the annular scaled fabricated according to a method including joining two ends of a measuring strip bearing the scale-division marks, welding together the two ends of the measuring strip, and lengthening at least one of the scale-division marks in a welded joint region to the predefined setpoint length.
Details pertaining to the method of the present invention, as well as to the scale fabricated using the method, are derived from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, on the basis of the figures.